Woman arrested for taping minutes of 'Twilight' film with camera

A 22-year old woman was arrested in Chicago this week for recording three minutes of the newest "Twilight" film with a digital camera at the movie theater, and spent two days in jail.

Additionally, Samantha Tumpach now faces up to three years in jail after being charged with count of criminal use of a motion picture exhibition.

However, Tumpach says that she wasn't filming the movie and was instead taping parts of her sister's birthday party, which was in part at the movie theater. Although the movie is in the background in clips, there are longer clips of family and friends singing happy birthday to Tumpach's sister at the theater.

“It was a big thing over nothing,” Tumpach added of her arrest. “We were just messing around. Everyone is so surprised it got this far.”

After being nabbed by an employee, managers called the police which checked the camera and found about three minutes of footage.

From what I read the managers insisted on pressing charges against her because the MPAA has a lousy $500 reward, for "catching" someone illegally recording a movie. The MPAAeven has a website setup to "educate" people about it.

Why would I call the $500 a lousy reward? Sure, to an employee making $7.25/hour that is almost two weeks of full-time work but it is less than pocket change to the MPAA.

I can't believe that they have caming classified as a Felony; someone can have manslaughter charges brought against them while "only" getting a misdemeanor, and little or zero jail time, or even supervised probation.

F**KING PIRATE! How dare she accidently record a few minutes of a movie in terrible quality in the background! I bet those pirate bastards didn't even pay the royalties when they sang "Happy Birthday".

[if you can't detect the sarcasm, it is there]

Let this be a lesson to you: Don't pay for movies, especialy at the theater. This would never have happened if they had pirated the movie and had the party at home...they could have even given the kid a burned DVD of the movie.

While agree that the series is downright terrible, most everything in the theater is just as bad. Some people like tripe...I prefer steak, but I am not going to take their tripe away from them...and they don't deserve to be locked up for watching it. However, they do deserve to be locked up for funding terrorist organizations like MPAA, RIAA, Al Qaeda, etc...

It is very understandable that Theater Operators forbid the use of cameras in their facilities, given the present circumstances. The woman should obviously have known that, I wonder about her common sense.

On the other hand, in the past, I believe a stern warning and possibly a removal of the tape or flashcard whould have been the only consequence of the transgression. The action taken only makes for additional animosity towards the industry.

The Twilight series is clearly targeted towards 14 year old girls. I wouldn't mind being 14 again but - as I am much older - I am going to abstain from criticizing the movie. I may as well criticize Sesame Street for not having enough sex and violence in it.

well for starters they should of stopped her on her way in and told her she couldnt take the camera in.the second thing is I thought if you own a video camera you can record anything want as long as the activities in the video are legal.The police and the prosecuters are being bastards in this case.As for the twilight movies themselves i got told their crap and wouldnt waste my money going to see them.

custom built gaming pc from early 2010,ps2 with 15 games all original,ps3 500gbs with 5 games all original,yamaha amp and 5.1channel surround sound speakers,46inch sony lcd smart tv.

Originally posted by xboxdvl2: the second thing is I thought if you own a video camera you can record anything want as long as the activities in the video are legal.

This is most certainly not true. Everyone knows (unless you're really old or living under a rock or always ignore the copyright warnings or never listen to the news) that you can't record a motion picture as it's copyrighted and she doesn't have permission from the producer(s) or developer(s) to make a copy for recreational use.

I hope she doesn't get even 6 months though, that's kind of ridiculous. They understand the situation and she screwed up. A fine I think would suffice, but not jail... at least not for that long... People have done much worse things and gotten off quite lightly.

Quote:This is most certainly not true. Everyone knows (unless you're really old or living under a rock or always ignore the copyright warnings or never listen to the news) that you can't record a motion picture as it's copyrighted and she doesn't have permission from the producer(s) or developer(s) to make a copy for recreational use.

I hope she doesn't get even 6 months though, that's kind of ridiculous. They understand the situation and she screwed up. A fine I think would suffice, but not jail... at least not for that long... People have done much worse things and gotten off quite lightly.

I'm pretty sure they should have to prove intent to pirate the film - she wasn't making a copy of the film, she was filming her friends party and the movie was on in the background. Now unless she sat in there silently for 2 hours and solely focused on the screen for the majority of the film logic would say they don't have a case.

Annoyingly, many of the larger film and music players have infringed other copyrights in the past, and rather than prison and ruining their lives, they just apologise and promise never to do it again, or pay a fee after they get caught - end of story. Seems like a two tier system to me.

If the mpaa have any sense they will look at the video footage, realise that she wasn't copying the film, note that this will be bad for business, and help to get any charges dropped against her, if only as a PR campaign to say they arn't the criminals people think they are. As it happens, they don't have much sense, and instead will probably attempt to throw the book at her as an example to others, making sure they ruin her life, and everybody will just make noise about how unfair it is, but do nothing about it, as usual.

I am all for this lady filming anything she wants, especially her sister's birthday party. I do understand the Movie Theater Folks not allowing cameras on their premises. You can't expect them to know who wants to record a harmless Birthday Party and who wants to record the whole movie and sell it on the corner. Her best option would have been to ask first.

Common sense needs to reign on both sides, not just on the side of the "Stupid Media Nazis".

Originally posted by siber: I am all for this lady filming anything she wants, especially her sister's birthday party. I do understand the Movie Theater Folks not allowing cameras on their premises. You can't expect them to know who wants to record a harmless Birthday Party and who wants to record the whole movie and sell it on the corner. Her best option would have been to ask first.

Common sense needs to reign on both sides, not just on the side of the "Stupid Media Nazis".

Yes common sense starts when its sold without a license and not before......

You should never need a license for selling or distributing Common Sense. You should be able to acquire common sense every minute of the day, everywhere and at all times, at no cost to you, gratis, for free, for sibbedy-doo-da.....

If you go into a Movie Theater and film a movie or part of a movie, and you assume you should not have to ask, you need a large serving of Common Sense. If you think that you should only be questioned at the moment you stand on the corner trying to sell, you need an extra helping.

Originally posted by siber: You should never need a license for selling or distributing Common Sense. You should be able to acquire common sense every minute of the day, everywhere and at all times, at no cost to you, gratis, for free, for sibbedy-doo-da.....

If you go into a Movie Theater and film a movie or part of a movie, and you assume you should not have to ask, you need a large serving of Common Sense. If you think that you should only be questioned at the moment you stand on the corner trying to sell, you need an extra helping.

It dose not matter what is seen,heard,talked about, filmed or pictured when it comes to IP/CP all that should matter if its sold/gains a profit without a license.

Its that simple.

Now with that said should theaters be allowed to kick out people that tape/film,ect yes, however things like that should not be criminalized EVER, all that dose is makes fans and consumers into criminals.

with:It dose not matter what is seen,heard,talked about, filmed or pictured when it comes to IP/CP all that should matter if its sold/gains a profit without a license.

Its that simple.

Now with that said should theaters be allowed to kick out people that tape/film,ect yes, however things like that should not be criminalized EVER, all that dose is makes fans and consumers into criminals.

with:The managers should of just told her to put the phone away, or leave the cinema.

It's Saturday afternoon in Western Europe and I'm recovering from a night on the town. Maybe, I'll make it another one tonight. I stated earlier that, while it made sense for the theater operators to react to the woman carrying a camera, their reaction was totally over the top by calling in the police. A stern warning was all that was needed. I did question the common sense of the woman in not wondering if it was OK to use a camera. (BTW, if she was just using her mobile phone, then the two days in jail sound like a lawsuit to me...).

Obviously I never questioned the fact that this should never be considered a crime as long as the intend to profit/sell isn't there, as repeatedly pointed out by ZippyDSM.

with:It dose not matter what is seen,heard,talked about, filmed or pictured when it comes to IP/CP all that should matter if its sold/gains a profit without a license.

Its that simple.

Now with that said should theaters be allowed to kick out people that tape/film,ect yes, however things like that should not be criminalized EVER, all that dose is makes fans and consumers into criminals.

with:The managers should of just told her to put the phone away, or leave the cinema.

It's Saturday afternoon in Western Europe and I'm recovering from a night on the town. Maybe, I'll make it another one tonight. I stated earlier that, while it made sense for the theater operators to react to the woman carrying a camera, their reaction was totally over the top by calling in the police. A stern warning was all that was needed. I did question the common sense of the woman in not wondering if it was OK to use a camera. (BTW, if she was just using her mobile phone, then the two days in jail sound like a lawsuit to me...).

Obviously I never questioned the fact that this should never be considered a crime as long as the intend to profit/sell isn't there, as repeatedly pointed out by ZippyDSM.

Ah sorry sorry I am in bull dog mode...but I swear I have enver figured out how to get the car onto the mantel in the dog house 0-o

This incident proves its turning into a poilce state like nazi germany where people were arrested and sent for years into jail for doing nothing. No crime was committed by her.

Glad I dont live in that socially backward hole of a country.

The managers should of just told her to put the phone away, or leave the cinema.

I hope those police(cowards with guns on a power trip) which arrested her, get shot in the line of duty they deserve it for participating in such an unjust act. What a waste of police resources.

Those managers deserve something like that too.

1st of all you are obviously a young kid and uneducated at that.. Remind me whose country has passed or is passing laws to ban people from the internet permanently? Govt's have tried to limit information since the beginning of time starting in egypt where only royalty was allowed to learn to read and write...europe in the middle ages banned the print and press,etc etc etc. They hated it when they could no longer control it and they are happy they have finally found a way to put the public on there side to control it a little again. And the public eats it up and asks for seconds!! Down with the pirates you all cry,they are the very reason society is going downhill,they are all evil. They have even convinced people that the reasons prices are so high is because of pirates!HAH!! When was the last time you saw a movie exec or a movie star using coupons at the grocery store,I am supposed to be mad ?? With the world economy the way it is I say good for them. If they are surviving in this world without hurting people,stealing from people,selling drugs to people,robbing..well good for them!!
Yeah I agree this situation sux ,I hate the MPAA , and I will even go a step further and say I have no issue with people who do pirate movies. Like it or not they are demonized to make it easier to punish them. They are not thiefs in the sense they they are made out, they don't break into your house and rob you,they don't burglarize stores for movies and resell them. They capture photons,which are gone forever to begin with and then make copies. They also pump a lot of money into the economy by buying tons of blank dvd's,ink cart. for their printers,plastic cases for the movies etc etc... You save 15.00 because you only pay 5.00 and then you go spend it somewhere else . But yeah you're right it's america that is taking all the freedom away from the citizens. By the way, tell me, can you still by firearms in your country little boy?

And by the way..this happened 1 time,which is why it made the news,ok. Now,(in my opinion once is too many) it isn't like America has Herds of cops waiting with clubs in their hands in the movie theaters just waiting and arresting hundreds of people and then trying to pass some B.S. law to ban anyone caught from ever going to the movies again. Which is what YOUR country will try to do now that they can ban you from the internet.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 05 Dec 2009 @ 11:19

Originally posted by HUNCHBAK: @ I love it how america calls itself "land of the free". Yeah right.

This incident proves its turning into a poilce state like nazi germany where people were arrested and sent for years into jail for doing nothing. No crime was committed by her.

Glad I dont live in that socially backward hole of a country.

The managers should of just told her to put the phone away, or leave the cinema.

I hope those police(cowards with guns on a power trip) which arrested her, get shot in the line of duty they deserve it for participating in such an unjust act. What a waste of police resources.

Those managers deserve something like that too.

1st of all you are obviously a young kid and uneducated at that.. Remind me whose country has passed or is passing laws to ban people from the internet permanently? Govt's have tried to limit information since the beginning of time starting in egypt where only royalty was allowed to learn to read and write...europe in the middle ages banned the print and press,etc etc etc. They hated it when they could no longer control it and they are happy they have finally found a way to put the public on there side to control it a little again. And the public eats it up and asks for seconds!! Down with the pirates you all cry,they are the very reason society is going downhill,they are all evil. They have even convinced people that the reasons prices are so high is because of pirates!HAH!! When was the last time you saw a movie exec or a movie star using coupons at the grocery store,I am supposed to be mad ?? With the world economy the way it is I say good for them. If they are surviving in this world without hurting people,stealing from people,selling drugs to people,robbing..well good for them!!
Yeah I agree this situation sux ,I hate the MPAA , and I will even go a step further and say I have no issue with people who do pirate movies. Like it or not they are demonized to make it easier to punish them. They are not thiefs in the sense they they are made out, they don't break into your house and rob you,they don't burglarize stores for movies and resell them. They capture photons,which are gone forever to begin with and then make copies. They also pump a lot of money into the economy by buying tons of blank dvd's,ink cart. for their printers,plastic cases for the movies etc etc... You save 15.00 because you only pay 5.00 and then you go spend it somewhere else . But yeah you're right it's america that is taking all the freedom away from the citizens. By the way, tell me, can you still by firearms in your country little boy?

He has a point the US was all about personal freedom but business via government(government collusion) to get in on revenue streams is restricting our freedoms as much as they can without being caught red handed by the ignorant masses.

Also look at what localities are doing to smokers or even car owners by forcing insurance on them, hell newyork and DC has some of the most bipolar weapons laws ever and yet they have the highest crime rates or housing rules that force low income people out of neighborhoods because the snobs want to pay more taxes.

While we may have more freedoms nationally than UK if you go by region by region we really do not.....

Obviously once this case goes before a judge, she'll be found not guilty if what she said is true. They'll play the tape and it will show her filming the little kids with the screen in the background. Then the judge will say "Bring me the idiot that decided it was a good idea to ruin this little girls birthday party".

Except if the sister was 22 then the "little girl" was probably 15-17.

Originally posted by KSib:she doesn't have permission from the producer(s) or developer(s) to make a copy for recreational use.

Recreational use? lol, is she going to roll it up and smoke it?

How you use copyrighted material matters. You can use it for a variety of uses and depending on the use, you may not have to have permission from the creator (like educational).

Yes for some strange reason we want CP owners controlling what we may teach kids.... educational and non profit use should be absolutely protected, its not going to stop people from buying it if its well packaged and priced.

Guess which family and all her friends are never going back to that theater...and possibly any other theater (especially for an event like a birthday) for a very long time? Hope that $500 reward was worth it.

The theater owner needs to drop the charges and issue an apology to this woman and her family. You can bet that this will certainly hurt their business.

I don't feel that piracy hurts the motion picture industry as much as they claim. If anything it helps. I've watched pirated copies before and the quality is to say the least crappy. If the movie is good I go to the theater and watch it or wait and buy the retail version.

couldnt the movie theater manager be charged or something (entrapment maybe).he did put copyrighted material on a giant sized tv while she was innocently filming her sisters birthday party.right behind where she was filming.

custom built gaming pc from early 2010,ps2 with 15 games all original,ps3 500gbs with 5 games all original,yamaha amp and 5.1channel surround sound speakers,46inch sony lcd smart tv.

Originally posted by bomber991: Obviously once this case goes before a judge, she'll be found not guilty if what she said is true. They'll play the tape and it will show her filming the little kids with the screen in the background. Then the judge will say "Bring me the idiot that decided it was a good idea to ruin this little girls birthday party".

It won't get dropped it;ll be a case of getting fined or something as buying a ticket mean you agree to all the rules and they don't allow cams in so she will have broken the agreement for a start.

overall though I find it a bit odd that they are trying to video people in a dark room for a birthday party, maybe on a mobile phone which are utter crap in dark rooms for recording people.

recording over 15 or 30 seconds of anything copyright can mean you need to pay money but below is fine.

Quote:It won't get dropped it;ll be a case of getting fined or something as buying a ticket mean you agree to all the rules and they don't allow cams in so she will have broken the agreement for a start.

overall though I find it a bit odd that they are trying to video people in a dark room for a birthday party, maybe on a mobile phone which are utter crap in dark rooms for recording people.

recording over 15 or 30 seconds of anything copyright can mean you need to pay money but below is fine.

she'll get done just what the end result is who knows.

I didn't think they print the terms and conditions on the ticket and unless they have a sign stating the terms and conditions(which i doubt they did) she can argue she didnt know cameras were'nt allowed.THey should have a giant sign saying if you record the movie you will face criminal prosecution

custom built gaming pc from early 2010,ps2 with 15 games all original,ps3 500gbs with 5 games all original,yamaha amp and 5.1channel surround sound speakers,46inch sony lcd smart tv.

"ignorance of the law is no excuse" .. is perfectly fine, but ONLY when something is obviously wrong.. stealing a car or battering somebody to death.. simple logic dictates those actions to be wrong (unless the battering was in self defence)

Filming your kids birthday? .. how could anybody think that would possibly be illegal? A harmless activity.. so "ignorance is no excuse" really doesn't come into this. Not being aware of a pretty much unknown law in circumstances where any right thinking person would see the activity as 100% harmless is a prefect defence.

Yet another reason to NEVER go to the movies.. NEVER buy any and ALWAYS get your entertainment from other sources..

hehehe.. and I didn't even mention the complete load of crap the big cartel have made the last 4 years.. nothing worth watching.. at all..

"simple logic dictates those actions to be wrong (unless the battering was in self defence)".

I would personally vote for you to become the most influential British Judge of the 21st Century. I couldn't agree more with the common sense of your argument.

Unfortunately, we are dealing with a different historical reality. The principle of "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is old and established since Roman Times.
WIKIPEDIA:Ignorantia juris non excusat(Latin for "ignorance of the law does not excuse" or "ignorance of the law excuses no one") is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he or she was unaware of its content.

The judge who - very appropriately, in my humble opinion - decides that this woman did nothing wrong and had no intent to do harm, could be dealing with appeal after appeal from the RIAA, the loss of his reputation, and whatever the 'Powers In Charge' want to do to him/her. He/she is most likely to condemn. What a mess.

Originally posted by siber: "simple logic dictates those actions to be wrong (unless the battering was in self defence)".

I would personally vote for you to become the most influential British Judge of the 21st Century. I couldn't agree more with the common sense of your argument.

Unfortunately, we are dealing with a different historical reality. The principle of "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" is old and established since Roman Times.
WIKIPEDIA:Ignorantia juris non excusat(Latin for "ignorance of the law does not excuse" or "ignorance of the law excuses no one") is a legal principle holding that a person who is unaware of a law may not escape liability for violating that law merely because he or she was unaware of its content.

The judge who - very appropriately, in my humble opinion - decides that this woman did nothing wrong and had no intent to do harm, could be dealing with appeal after appeal from the RIAA, the loss of his reputation, and whatever the 'Powers In Charge' want to do to him/her. He/she is most likely to condemn. What a mess.

True but what about old anti Wicca/whichisim laws that forbid mroe than 4 females being in a single residence?

I think that it being a matter of law is ridiculous, its like shooting your daughters new boyfriend when he was sneaking around the house/yard to talk to her. you can;t shoot im until he runs leaving her knocked up or B gets heavy handed with her. :P

Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Lets renegotiate them.

I don't disagree, ZippyDSM. I don't mean to tell you that the principles of "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" or "anti Wicca/whichisim (New to me!) laws that forbid more than 4 females being in a single residence" are correct and represent fine examples of Western Civilization. I just expect that they will be used to determine the outcome for this poor woman, if we like it or not...

Ignorance of the law is no excuse... but it's a damn good extenuating circumstance!
More often than not, being found guilty "by accident" results in some form of "learning" punishment, as in, a small fine and having to take "anti-piracy" class...
Yes the law exists and if the judge finds her to have broken the law then she is guilty, but he does not have to ruin her life due to an accident.
Write a bad check and show the judge that it was an accident... you get a slap on the wrist and have to take "budget class".

The real problem here is the fact that this is elevated to a criminal matter. It never should be so.
The owner of the film has every right to request that no one film it and the owner of the theater has every right to not allow filming inside of his theater... but neither is a criminal offense. It's "breaking the rules" and should result in nothing more than being kicked out of the theater or some kind of civil suit from the movie owner.
But the MPAA has been given the power to prosecute CRIMINALLY... and that is the real problem here.

And oh, since this is criminal, once the girl was reported to the cops the theater no longer has the ability to "drop the charges".

Originally posted by siber: I don't disagree, ZippyDSM. I don't mean to tell you that the principles of "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" or "anti Wicca/whichisim (New to me!) laws that forbid more than 4 females being in a single residence" are correct and represent fine examples of Western Civilization. I just expect that they will be used to determine the outcome for this poor woman, if we like it or not...

Texas had or has a anti vibrator law can't have more than 3 or 4, some laws are out moded or just stupid.

When it comes to dealing with cops you have no choice but to bend over they are their for enforcement and little else, however if you have the chance in court its a whole other ball game.

Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Lets renegotiate them.

It will not be long before they outlaw breathing air...then they can arrest anyone they want whenever they want without cause, to put into forced labor. They already have the forced labor...and they keep making crimes out of innocent activities for no reason other than this.

The USA is called "The land of the free" - but even Autistic 5 year olds know better. We also call our government a democracy, even though it started as a repbulic and has turned into a dictatorship...and has never been a democracy. We even say "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance...when we all know that this nation serves a much darker master...man.

Originally posted by KillerBug: It will not be long before they outlaw breathing air...then they can arrest anyone they want whenever they want without cause, to put into forced labor. They already have the forced labor...and they keep making crimes out of innocent activities for no reason other than this.

The USA is called "The land of the free" - but even Autistic 5 year olds know better. We also call our government a democracy, even though it started as a repbulic and has turned into a dictatorship...and has never been a democracy. We even say "Under God" in the pledge of allegiance...when we all know that this nation serves a much darker master...man.

Well democracy has a good ring to it till one realizes its mob rule...... I wish we could go back to a more rebulpic setup and for gods sake get the house and sentante to run on 40% rule, if all it takes 40-50% majority to change things they would not screw up so much.....

Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Lets renegotiate them.

Quote:Well democracy has a good ring to it till one realizes its mob rule...... I wish we could go back to a more rebulpic setup and for gods sake get the house and sentante to run on 40% rule, if all it takes 40-50% majority to change things they would not screw up so much.....

Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off with mob rule...at least a mob favors the majority; the government favors the extreme minority. Plus, "Mob Rule" brings up visions of government by angry crouds rounding up the witches. Organized democracy is a much different scene.

Quote:Well democracy has a good ring to it till one realizes its mob rule...... I wish we could go back to a more rebulpic setup and for gods sake get the house and sentante to run on 40% rule, if all it takes 40-50% majority to change things they would not screw up so much.....

Sometimes I wonder if we would be better off with mob rule...at least a mob favors the majority; the government favors the extreme minority. Plus, "Mob Rule" brings up visions of government by angry crouds rounding up the witches. Organized democracy is a much different scene.

It is mob rule, but the mod is formed of people in the government and not the masses.....as its very easy to break the masses into voting blocks and lead them by the nose,groin and bleedy hearts to wehomever the "mob" has chosen.............

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi

"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."
~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn. ~Bill Federer

"A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members and among the most vulnerable are surely the unborn and the dying,"
~Pope John Paul II

Doesn't this all sound great? Each one of us needs to determine if these statements are mostly true in our own individual countries, states, cities, neighbourhoods, streets. You may be living in a state of Mob Rule or Ochlocracy.

just passed thru chicago and read the news paper about this issue. the director is on the girls side he said the charge should be dropped but since he doesnt own the film he cant do anything. the only part of the film that was recorded was some of the comecials and previews.